Q. For training in meditation, the need of
an effective guide cannot be denied. That guide directs the
seeker in the form of a guru. Is it necessary for the pupil to be
near the guru all the time or is it possible for him to visit the
guru every now and then for guidance, and make progress on his
own?

Ans.In ancient literature, the adoration of
the guru has been held in great esteem. The Hindi word, upasana,
meaning adoration, means sitting near the guru. He who stays
near the guru, who loves and reveres him, often finds something
which he who stays away can never find. One who stays near the
guru, not only has the occasion for hearing and knowing him, but
also he is benefited by the radiation emanating from the
gurus aura. The moment a disciple enters the field of the
guru's aura, he experiences extraordinary peace. Through the
boundless love of the guru, he comes to see a new direction in
life and possibilities of transformation grow stronger. Many new
experiments are being undertaken in the western world in the
direction of character-transformation. One such experiment has
been conducted in Germany. In order to free the young from
addiction to smoking, they are being given training in yoga.
Again in order to wean them from addiction to intoxicants, people
in France are encouraged to undertake long sea journeys. In one
such experiment, 20 persons were sent on a long sea-voyage. It
has been reported that 13 of them were reformed. The police chief
of Cleveland (America) has discovered a new way of reforming the
policemen under his charge. These policemen are free to take
their wives along with them on their supervisory rounds. It has
been found that these people dare not take intoxicating drugs in
the presence of their wives.

The experiments mentioned above
are no figments of imagination. Both on theoretical and practical
grounds, these have been found to be sound. According to the Jain
philosophy, remarkable changes take place in both conscious and
unconscious objects due to transposition of matter, space, time
and feeling. A conscious object when transposed to another area
or epoch may become unconscious. There could not be a greater
transformation than this. In the above examples, the experiment
in Germany may be taken as an instance of change of material
circumstance, that in France of transference to a newer area,
that in America, of transmutation of feeling.

Even more effective than these
is the experiment of living in the vicinity of the guru. The
transformation of personality wrought by the effect of the guru's
aura on a disciple living in close proximity, is no less
remarkable. In this experiment irrespective of whether a guru
transfers his energy to the disciple or not, some kind of
transference naturally takes place. The technique of dhyana can
be learnt through books but that is a process of indirect
training. The training imparted by the guru, on the other hand,
is direct. The difference between the direct and indirect
training is evident in their results. From this point of view,
the reverence of the guru has a special value.

Q.The effect of being directly in the
vicinity of the guru is indescribable indeed. In this there can
be no contradiction. But is it necessary for a sadhak who merely
seeks training in meditation, to be near the guru day and night?
Is it not possible to achieve the desired result through
occasional instruction?

Ans. Meditation is of two kinds---casual and
timeless. Casual meditation is bound to the limits of time. It
can be practised once, twice, or four to five times a day. As
regards time, 2-4 hours may be allotted to it. But timeless
meditation is not bound by time. Because the man possessed by a
keen yearning for self-realization is not bound by time; rather
it is time that moves with him. That a sadhak practising dhyana
should be self-aware for one or two hours and keep unaware, or
fickle, for the rest of the time, is not at all desirable. That
is the condition in. which religion finds itself today. When a
man visits a religious place, he appears to be thoroughly
religious, but this kind of religion has no effect whatsoever on
his conduct. This duplex mentality can neither redound to the
glory of religion nor give recognisation to a truly religious
person. As long as any contradiction exists in one's behaviour
during the hour of worship and the rest of the day, religious
worship will not yield the desired results. The mind of the
sadhak should be suffused with meditation. The whole day, nay,
one's whole life, should be permeated with dhyana. Meditation is
the totality of life, it cannot be divided into segments of time
and space. Its impact should be felt on every activity from the
time of waking up in the morning till going to bed at night.
Walking sitting, standing, sleeping, speaking, eating, drinking
etc. Only when all these activities are seasoned with meditation,
the perfection of sadhana manifests itself in conduct. It is
because of this consideration that various forms of sadhana have
been determined---walking yoga, standing-yoga, sitting-yoga,
asana-yoga, sleeping yoga, speaking-yoga, eating-yoga, etc. Yoga
in these words is symbolic of the fact that any action when
complemented with full awareness, becomes yoga.

The greatest problem that a
spiritual sadhak faces is how to keep non-violent in this chaotic
world of living beings? Non-violence may be his ideal, but how
can he evade the inevitability of violence? Oppressed by the
possibility of violence, the pupil propounds a question

Lord! How do I walk? How stand? How sit? How
sleep? How eat and speak? So that I'm not involved in sin.

The Lord gauged the condition
of the pupil's mind, appreciated his confusion and offering him a
way out, said :

O pupil walk in mindfulness, in mindfulness
stay; sit in mindfulness, in mindfulness sleep; eat in
mindfulness, in mindfulness speak. Thus exercising self-restraint
in everything you do, you can keep yourself free from sin.

After one has accepted
self-discipline as a way of life, every moment should be a moment
of awareness. If every movement is temperate, one's whole life is
permeated with self-discipline. Otherwise one never acquires
proper self-control. Similarly, if, one does dhyana sadhana for
an hour or two, and spends the rest of the time fidgeting about,
one can never truly accomplish meditation. If the mind is not
wholly given to meditation, energy thereof cannot be transmitted
to everyday conduct. When the entire routine of life becomes
yoga, only then does awareness suffuse ones conduct. Thus,
it may be concluded that close proximity to the guru for a short
period brings proportionate results, but the impact of long term
proximity is stupendous. For one aspiring to enter the higher
stages of dhyana, to overlook the importance of constant
proximity to the guru cannot be beneficial.